Worker Bees Blog

Worker Bees Blog is where BlogHer co-founder Elisa Camahort Page muses about marketing, social media, customer service and other Web 2.0 inanities

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Another day, another conference...will I see you there?

In recently listing a string of conferences where I'm speaking, I forgot to mention one that I'm attending even though I'm not speaking. OK, OK, I am an advisory fellow to the Society for New Communications Research (and a Founding Fellow, thank you very much) but Jen McClure and crew know how to put on a good (and by that I mean productive) event.

And thus ends the longest introductory sentence to a blog post that I have ever written.

If you are, register now with the discount code SNCRFRIEND to save $100.

That means you can participate in the entire 3-day conference for only $695 or go for one day for only $395.

NewComm Forum, like BlogHer, is celebrating its fifth anniversary, and in case you've never heard me mention it before: The very first NCF is where I met my BlogHer co-founder Jory Des Jardins for the very first time! Obviously a great networking event ;)

The point is to bring together thought leaders and decision makers to discuss the impact of social media and emerging communication tools, technologies, and models on PR and corporate communications, marketing and advertising, media and journalism, business, culture and society. The Forum provides an in-depth exploration of the future of communications. In its five year history, it has come to be known as one of the world’s leading conferences focusing on the latest trends in new emerging media and communications platforms.

Like BlogHer Business, New Comm Forum focuses pretty closely on real-world, practical information, including case studies, not just pie-in-the-sky.

Sunday, March 29, 2009

See me (and some other smart women) this week

Just a reminder that I think there is still time to register for the third annual Invent Your Future, a conference focused on women and leadership, taking place this week in Santa Clara, CA.

Personally, I'll be speaking on a panel on Wednesday afternoon, entitled Survival Skills for Leaders, alongside Slideshare CEO Rashmi Sinha (a former BlogHer keynote speaker) and Anita Borg Institute Community Programs Manager BJ Wishinsky. We're going to talk about networking, online and off, and some time today I have to figure out how to execute an idea I came up with (silly me) to visually represent our own career trajectories and how they have been impacted by connections and networking. Then we could introduce ourselves, but have it be relevant and interesting, not just something everyone sits through to get to the good stuff.

In my head it sounded really cool, but I have not yet quite gotten it down on "paper". I keep hoping Rashmi or BJ will finish their first, and I can just use whatever brilliant template they create to make mine. (Considering how busy we all are, they're probably hoping the same.)

The entire agenda is jam-packed with cool stuff, including Tuesday night's welcome reception and kickoff session with Rachel Maddow.

Saturday, March 21, 2009

Audio interview with Dan Patterson/ABC News Radio

As per usual, had an energy-intensive tome at this year's SXSW. There were some great parts and, as 'm sure happens to people at BlogHer too, there were some times I was kicking myself for missing one panel for another...and questioning my choices.

I also did a few interviews while there, which I'll post as they go live. Had a great time talking to Dan Patterson from ABC News Radio. He also spoke on a panel on the Intersection of Politics, Technology and Pop Culture. My favorite moment of that panel was when Dan handily dismissed another panelist's argument that "Twitter etc. have gotten so full of noise. (IMagine that uttered with elitist ennui.) As Dan so rightly pointed out: These apps are enabling great things to happen. Meanwhile, we control the noise. If you don't like noise, don't follow the noise maker. (I'm paraphrasing here.)

Dan also told me that he once worked for musician Tom Waits, so we had some fun talking about Waits and his music and his general interestingness as a person and artist.

I'm back, and with lots of impending speaking gigs

Hi everyone, After four weeks of travel and then frenzied preparation and two weeks of real, live, honest-to-God vacation: I am back. I can honestly say that this was the longest vacation I have ever taken while employed, even self-employed. I think I was mostly successful at not checking in to work, not thinking too much about work and certainly not doing any work. (It's stopping the thinking about it that is the hardest.)

I'm back just in time, though, because there is a lot going on!

First of, of course, BlogHer '09 is starting to loom on the horizon. We announced the schedule and a significant majority of the speakers, and are adding more every day, as you can see by checking out the agenda. I can officially tell you that I think we'll sell out quite early this year...ticket sales are going like gangbusters, so there is work, work, work to be done!

So, I never planned to have the Spring be so jam-packed, and after only a couple of days my vacation already seems like a lifetime away, but there you have it. That's what I'm up to for the foreseeable future.